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If tiredness could kill me, I would be long since dead." Then she laughed again. "And do not say I was younger then. It is true, but I was also tenderer of flesh. More than that, the queen was over three score yearsand she laughed at us when we wept from weariness. The body does not fail when the spirit drives." |
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"Well then, the horses are tired, and I fear the men" |
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"You need not fear my men. They will ride until they die in the saddle if need be. It would be an easier death than that which would come from failing me at such a time. And they will not let the others fail. That is why I bid you place the townsmen between two groups of the Roselynde men-at-arms. The horses are another matter. Ride back and see if any are in bad case. I wish to continue until full dark if it be at all possible." |
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"It will be hard to set shelters in the dark, my lady. I" |
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"Shelters? What shelters? We will not camp. We must bait the horses and rest them until the moon rises. Then we will ride on. The men can eat if they wish also." |
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"We will ride in the dark? Into Wales?" |
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"Are you a child, to be afraid of the dark, Sir Guy?" She watched him flush with chagrinat least, she assumed a flush because he turned his head a little away. "The dark is God's time, the same as the light. As for Wales, no band of robbers will attack fifty armed men, and there is no war in these parts. I know because I have just ridden through them." |
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"The Welsh bowmen, I have heard, are no respecters of the peace." |
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"No, but they are not mad, either. They do not shoot wantonly into a crowd just for pleasure. Ian has a good name in North Wales, and we are openly displaying his colors and carefully keeping to the road. We will have no trouble." |
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Alinor was quite correct in her analysis of the situation. Sometimes it was true that there was a definite itch- |
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